MERP August 2011

[courterin]

I have been MERPed for August 2011 in Freeport. Has anyone else gotten this decision. I feel like I must be one of the first since most people have been saying April.

[paul2845]

I got MERPed too for Aug 2011. Look forward to seeing everyone there. I will be the old man of the group at 35 year. Just pass me the Ensure!

[paul2845]

Since the housing website will not be up for some time, I emailed a realtor in the Bahamas to get information (sarlesrealty); I will probably still go through the Ross website. Here are some places the realtor suggested: (add www to each link)
sarlesrealty.com/listing-harmony-isles-2054.html
sarlesrealty.com/listing-the-venetian-5294.html this is to the west of the campus but along main roads and will go at $950/month
sarlesrealty.com/listing-harbour-house-towers-apartment-5552.html
sarlesrealty.com/listing-lucaya-apartment-1314.html
sarlesrealty.com/listing-german-holiday-park-1977.html
Please be aware that the last three lisitng do not include the utilties roughly $70 for cable/month + $200 for power/month

She also provided pointers:
If using the Ross website ask about whether or not the linens/crockery/cookery are included. There may only be one set of sheets and or towels. You may want to bring your own- ask about bed size- it tends to differ. Ask if there is a cap on the power usuage- many owners have been burn by offering to pay the power bill and it comes in as a huge bill
Ask about hurricane protection- are the windows hurricane impact or do they have shutters- some owners just put up plywood- which is fine as long as it is fastened correctly. Be sure to ask who is responsible for the putting the shutters up in the event of a storm. You may want to get fresh water delivery. They come in 5 gallon bottles but you will need some sort of pump/syphon to get the water out of the jug. The water man will pick up your old bottles and give you a new one. Cost is $5/bottle but $11 if you have no bottle as a deposit. Or you just buy the 1 gallon plastic bottles. Laundry facilites are usually only in the newer units. The older units may have a communal laundry while others may not have one at all. Communal laundries will be either coins or token operated. Groceries are expensive so you may want to bring specialty items with you- you may find a particular item once then be unable to find it again.

[sesigs]

I don't feel like they are just putting people in MERP for the money. I had a really long discussion with my interviewer about MERP vs. direct admission. She told me she felt MERP would be more appropriate due to my lower MCAT score and the fact that I have been out of school for over 3 years. It seems that even if your stats are high they may lean to MERP if you've been out of school. I am actually looking forward to the program so that I can get back into the swing of hardcore studying without distractions like working two jobs!

Anyway, hello all! My name is Shana and I will be a fellow MERPer this August in Freeport. Looking forward to meeting everyone

[SAMlMD]

Hello future doctors,
It is Michael, I am really glad for all of you that you have already put your steps in the way to being successful physicians. I think I will be with you in MERP August 2011. As for Financial Aid Malish, unfortunately we are not offered financial aid for the MERP program. we will have to either pay out of pocket or get a Private Loan for the whole amount.
Wish all of us luck and success in our trip
Michael

[sesigs]

Since the housing website will not be up for some time, I emailed a realtor in the Bahamas to get information (sarlesrealty); I will probably still go through the Ross website. Here are some places the realtor suggested: (add www to each link)
sarlesrealty.com/listing-harmony-isles-2054.html
sarlesrealty.com/listing-the-venetian-5294.html this is to the west of the campus but along main roads and will go at $950/month
sarlesrealty.com/listing-harbour-house-towers-apartment-5552.html
sarlesrealty.com/listing-lucaya-apartment-1314.html
sarlesrealty.com/listing-german-holiday-park-1977.html
Please be aware that the last three lisitng do not include the utilties roughly $70 for cable/month + $200 for power/month

She also provided pointers:
If using the Ross website ask about whether or not the linens/crockery/cookery are included. There may only be one set of sheets and or towels. You may want to bring your own- ask about bed size- it tends to differ. Ask if there is a cap on the power usuage- many owners have been burn by offering to pay the power bill and it comes in as a huge bill
Ask about hurricane protection- are the windows hurricane impact or do they have shutters- some owners just put up plywood- which is fine as long as it is fastened correctly. Be sure to ask who is responsible for the putting the shutters up in the event of a storm. You may want to get fresh water delivery. They come in 5 gallon bottles but you will need some sort of pump/syphon to get the water out of the jug. The water man will pick up your old bottles and give you a new one. Cost is $5/bottle but $11 if you have no bottle as a deposit. Or you just buy the 1 gallon plastic bottles. Laundry facilites are usually only in the newer units. The older units may have a communal laundry while others may not have one at all. Communal laundries will be either coins or token operated. Groceries are expensive so you may want to bring specialty items with you- you may find a particular item once then be unable to find it again.

I've also been looking at housing around Freeport before the Ross housing site is available but I think I am going to go through them as well. However, most people that have done MERP in the Bahamas have stayed at Sunset Lodge. You can search for them on Facebook and their page has pictures of the apartments. The apartments come with linens and fully stocked kitchens which is helpful. They also look very nice and are a quick walk to school. I will definitely prefer to be within decent walking distance of the school. I've spent a lot of time in the Bahamas and they do have a local bus system (the jitney) and fares are $1.25 one way. However, they aren't always reliable - don't come a specific times, stop running between 6 & 7pm, and depending where you pick it up will wait to leave until the bus is full. Just something to think about in regard to transportation and how far to live from school.

Also in regard to groceries and food in general - not everything is super expensive and I find most local restaurants affordable and usually close to price here in the US. Local places are great - lots of fresh seafood (conch!) and dishes similar to southern food in the States (I love anyone who considers mac&cheese a vegetable). Stay away from the touristy places and you won't get ripped off while eating out. As far as grocery stores go there are definitely things that are super expensive and overpriced. For example - any type of crackers (plain old Ritz are nearly $7 a box), CEREAL (it is SO expensive $10+ a box), toilet paper (if you like the cushy stuff), any vegetarian/vegan brand food (most places have started carrying brands like Annie's and Amy's but it comes with a price basically double what it would cost in the States). Milk, juice, water isn't overpriced. Canned goods, soups, pastas, sauces are also evenly priced to what we're used too. Produce is fairly priced because it is usually coming from close by on other islands or grown right on the island - bananas, oranges, etc.

The official currency is the Bahamian dollar and is equal to the US dollar. I never change money but if you end up with Bahamian money make sure it is spent before leaving at the end of the semester. Outside of the Bahamas it is worth basically nothing (so little it isn't even worth it to change it back to US dollars). You can withdraw money from ATMs for a small bank fee (I have a Bank of America debit card) and most places take major credit cards as well.

Hope this helps! If you have questions find me on Facebook. I'm in the MERP group. I'm also going to get in touch with friends down in Nassau and get the scoop on good local places to eat and ask more about places to live, shop, etc in Freeport so I will keep everyone updated.

[manofsin]

I don't feel like they are just putting people in MERP for the money. I had a really long discussion with my interviewer about MERP vs. direct admission. She told me she felt MERP would be more appropriate due to my lower MCAT score and the fact that I have been out of school for over 3 years. It seems that even if your stats are high they may lean to MERP if you've been out of school. I am actually looking forward to the program so that I can get back into the swing of hardcore studying without distractions like working two jobs!

Anyway, hello all! My name is Shana and I will be a fellow MERPer this August in Freeport. Looking forward to meeting everyone

The intent of MERP is completely to generate money. I just finished the program. We started with ~95 students. ~90 took the final exam. ~30 people passed legit after taking the final exam. The whole time they said that if you did not meet a minimum criteria, you would not move on. However, after so many failed they arbitrarilly picked some students to move on, while still failing others. They gave no reason for this change in policy. They also did not specify what the new criteria was that some were able to pass on, while others failed. People comparing their scores, found out some people with higher scores actually stilled failed, while others with extremely low scores still passed. Many of the people who still passed came from wealthier families, while those that did not, were on financial aid.

Devry is all about the money, they are a publicly traded company and need to fill the seats. IMHO they took those individuals with a greater ability to pay and a willingness to continue forward even though they would fail, knowing they would likely repeat a semester if necessary.

I say all this not as one of the individuals who failed, far from it. I passed easily and am quite upset that my accomplishment was lessened by the fact they would still pass individuals who did so poorly. However, this was not the only incident that occurred that shows that MERP is just a money generator. Feel free to check out for yourself the number of complaints against Ross -> .ipetitions.com/petition/bahamasmerp/

If the purpose of MERP was to truly find those dedicated and talented enough, then they would have set their standard and stuck to it, even if no one passed. Since they let through others then it obvious to me MERP doesn't really matter and is just another semester they can charge you for.

[SpursDoc]

The intent of MERP is completely to generate money. I just finished the program. We started with ~95 students. ~90 took the final exam. ~30 people passed legit after taking the final exam. The whole time they said that if you did not meet a minimum criteria, you would not move on. However, after so many failed they arbitrarilly picked some students to move on, while still failing others. They gave no reason for this change in policy. They also did not specify what the new criteria was that some were able to pass on, while others failed. People comparing their scores, found out some people with higher scores actually stilled failed, while others with extremely low scores still passed. Many of the people who still passed came from wealthier families, while those that did not, were on financial aid.

Devry is all about the money, they are a publicly traded company and need to fill the seats. IMHO they took those individuals with a greater ability to pay and a willingness to continue forward even though they would fail, knowing they would likely repeat a semester if necessary.

I say all this not as one of the individuals who failed, far from it. I passed easily and am quite upset that my accomplishment was lessened by the fact they would still pass individuals who did so poorly. However, this was not the only incident that occurred that shows that MERP is just a money generator. Feel free to check out for yourself the number of complaints against Ross -> .ipetitions.com/petition/bahamasmerp/

If the purpose of MERP was to truly find those dedicated and talented enough, then they would have set their standard and stuck to it, even if no one passed. Since they let through others then it obvious to me MERP doesn't really matter and is just another semester they can charge you for.

Well it's unfortunate what happened to you guys but take an important lesson from this; if you're getting into this understand that more road blocks out of your control will happen so leave nothing to chance and be your own advocate. Ross gives you a chance but doesn't always have it's stuff together and always has one eye on the bottom line and sometimes both. Sucks, but that's the reality, get used to it. Also you're gonna have to leave your ego at the door, don't worry about what your "accomplishments" look like or how they make you feel when compared to others because if people who failed MERP get passed on they will get weeded out anyways so just worry about yourself, because MERP ain't squat compared to what is waiting for you and all those issues from MERP are all nice and cozy here waiting for you. You hate printer issues, don't come to Ross. You hate being taught by sub par professors (sometimes) dont' come to Ross. You hate policy changes in the middle of a semester, don't come to Ross. It's not all bad and there are bright spots and some things I down right enjoyed, but stay flexible, especially since they have been "tweaking" this new curriculum every semester since it started.

[dr82]

MERP in the Bahamas Good luck!

[manofsin]

Well it's unfortunate what happened to you guys but take an important lesson from this; if you're getting into this understand that more road blocks out of your control will happen so leave nothing to chance and be your own advocate. Ross gives you a chance but doesn't always have it's stuff together and always has one eye on the bottom line and sometimes both. Sucks, but that's the reality, get used to it. Also you're gonna have to leave your ego at the door, don't worry about what your "accomplishments" look like or how they make you feel when compared to others because if people who failed MERP get passed on they will get weeded out anyways so just worry about yourself, because MERP ain't squat compared to what is waiting for you and all those issues from MERP are all nice and cozy here waiting for you. You hate printer issues, don't come to Ross. You hate being taught by sub par professors (sometimes) dont' come to Ross. You hate policy changes in the middle of a semester, don't come to Ross. It's not all bad and there are bright spots and some things I down right enjoyed, but stay flexible, especially since they have been "tweaking" this new curriculum every semester since it started.

This is why Ross and Caribbean Schools have such a poor reputation, they alter the standard to suite their needs, not whats best for the eventual patients that these students might come into contact. My concern is only that the reputation of the school 300+ other students and I are about to attend is hurt.

Furthermore, my statements are not driven by ego, they are based on fact. Not everything in life should be flexible. Especially when we are choosing a career dealing with patient's lives.

Thirdly, I think you mistaken my post as complaining, the B!@ching was done in the petition which was not of my doing. My post and the link to the petition were merely illustrations that MERP is a money generator as it states multiple times in my post. I think it is important people realize exactly what MERP is, if they are going to make an educated decision about attending it, don't you agree?

[SpursDoc]

One, I am in total agreement about what MERP has become, a ripe source of profit for Ross. Two, when I mentioned ego it was in reference to your displeasure at the fact that Ross allowing people who failed to pass on diminished your accomplishments. Third, my reply was mainly in reference to the petition, you just happen to be the messenger.